Brownfields
2003 Assessment
Grant
Fact Sheet
Gary, IN

EPA Brownfields Program

EPA's Brownfields Program empowers states, communities, and other stakeholders to work together to prevent, assess, safely clean up, and sustainably reuse brownfields. A brownfield site is real property, the expansion, redevelopment, or reuse of which may be complicated by the presence or potential presence of a hazardous substance, pollutant, or contaminant. On January 11, 2002, President George W. Bush signed into law the Small Business Liability Relief and Brownfields Revitalization Act. Under the Brownfields Law, EPA provides financial assistance to eligible applicants through four competitive grant programs: assessment grants, revolving loan fund grants, cleanup grants, and job training grants. Additionally, funding support is provided to state and tribal response programs through a separate mechanism.

Assessment Grant

$200,000 for hazardous substances
$50,000 for petroleum

EPA has selected the City of Gary for a brownfields assessment grant. Grant funds will be used to perform Phase I and II hazardous substances investigations of properties within the Airport Development Zone, including about 24 acres on West 5th Avenue and 30 acres on West 9th Avenue. The city will use petroleum funds to assess a former gas station. Grant funds also will be used for community involvement.

Cleanup Grant

$200,000 for petroleum

EPA has selected the City of Gary for a brownfields cleanup grant. Grant funds will be used to clean up a former gas station and repair shop called the Former Smitty's site at 25th and Chase Street. The site will become the new M.C. Bennett City Park, which is part of the Small Farms Urban Renewal Project within the city's Empowerment Zone. Grant funds also will be used for community involvement and to identify and monitor community wells still in use within a one-mile radius.

Revolving Loan Fund Grant

$1,000,000 for hazardous substances

EPA has selected the City of Gary for a revolving loan fund grant. The grant will be used to capitalize a revolving loan fund from which the City of Gary will provide loans and subgrants to conduct cleanup activities. The city will emphasize loans for brownfields properties within "anchor areas" that have targeted development projects in the Empowerment Zone, the Airport Development Zone, the Downtown/Stadium District, Lakefront, and the Gary Enterprise Zone.

Community Description

The City of Gary was selected to receive assessment, cleanup, and revolving loan fund grants. The decline of the U.S. steel industry and the shift away from manufacturing to a service economy over the past 25 years has resulted in the loss of tens of thousands of jobs and hundreds of businesses in Gary, which has been called "The City of Steel." The city is a federally designated Empowerment Zone with hundreds of brownfields that have contributed to blight and to pollution of the Grand Calumet River. Nearly 90 percent of the city's population are minorities, and 34 percent of Gary residents have incomes below the poverty level. Community involvement will be an important aspect of the proposed brownfields projects.

Contacts

For further information, including specific grant contacts, additional grant information, brownfields news and events, and publications and links, visit the EPA Brownfields Web site (http://www.epa.gov/brownfields).

The information presented in this fact sheet comes from the grant proposal; EPA cannot attest to the accuracy of this information. The cooperative agreement for the grant has not yet been negotiated. Therefore, activities described in this fact sheet are subject to change.